


friends. sometimes, maybe, always.

by bri_notthecheese



Category: Gotham (TV)
Genre: A little bit more of a reunion than what the finale gave us, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Post-Season/Series 05 Finale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-11
Updated: 2021-01-11
Packaged: 2021-03-15 18:15:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28693083
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bri_notthecheese/pseuds/bri_notthecheese
Summary: “But I’m no longer your top priority.”Bruce shrugs—a move that looks a bit foolish in the Batsuit. “You were tonight.”Selina laughs, a real one this time. “The jewels were your top priority.” She wraps both her arms around his neck, relishing in this closeness even if their teasing banter can’t last. At least he’s smiling too. “But I’m noting that for future reference. You only want to see me if I’m stealing something.”-In order to get an actual conversation with Bruce now that he's returned, Selina purposefully trips the alarm while stealing some jewels.
Relationships: Selina Kyle/Bruce Wayne
Comments: 6
Kudos: 32





	friends. sometimes, maybe, always.

**Author's Note:**

> A Christmas present for one of my besties!! <3 Figured I might as well share here as well! ^_^

If she’s being honest, Selina can barely believe he’s back.

Besides their encounter on the roof several days ago, everything about Bruce continues to be shrouded in secrecy—a ghost that the city can’t quite seem to shake despite his very public reappearance to the press two days ago. She watched it, of course. Stared at the mature edges of his fully sculpted jawline, no longer any trace of the baby fat once held in his cheeks. Listened to his voice—a deep timbre that resonated so closely with the one that had ordered her to return the diamond, and yet, somehow, that voice in the shadows had felt more real than the one on the television.

Of course her anger at him hasn’t faded.

He left when they had promised something. He left when the city itself was on the verge of collapse and needed rebuilding. He left when she had finally realized the truth.

How much she loved him. How much she _still_ loves him.

She’s kicked herself a bunch of times for it already. Why love a guy who tells you goodbye in a letter and leaves you for ten years? Hell if she knows.

But she can’t shake him and the best way to get to know if he feels the same way is for them to talk.

He taught her that. Once.

Gotham’s National History Museum has some kind of old, royal jewels on display. Normally she’d steal them in a heartbeat, but with Bruce turning up and playing some weird vigilante card, she figures this would be the easiest way to talk to him. Tripping the wires is easy and then she waits on an adjacent roof for the Batman—as they’ve been calling him—to come swooping in.

Which he does, landing not ten feet away from her.

“Two minutes and forty seconds,” Selina whistles, almost impressed. “Faster than the cops by a long-shot.”

“The GCPD is overrun with all the crime in Gotham,” the deep voice under the cowl replies. It’s unnerving to know that it’s Bruce under there and yet only see the bit of skin around his mouth and chin.

She laughs. “And that’s new? They’ve never had a handle on it.”

Bruce frowns. He’s quiet for a few moments before extending his hand. “Return the jewels, Selina.”

Selina laughs again, though it’s bitter tasting in her mouth. “Is that all you care about now?”

Bruce is silent.

Selina shakes her head. “You think I’d trip the alarms on accident? Pfft. I don’t have the jewels. I wanted to see you, but if those are the only things you’re interested in, you can go.”

She moves to leave the rooftop and disappear into the night, but a hand on her arm stops her.

“You have to understand.”

“I don’t _have_ to do anything.” She tears her arm from his grip. “You _left_ Bruce. And now you just pop back in like nothing’s changed? Suddenly Gotham is _your_ city? Where were you when we were rebuilding? Where were you when I was trying to—”

She cuts off, not allowing herself to cry over him. Not anymore. She promised herself that Bruce Wayne would get no more of her tears. She senses him step closer but thankfully he makes no move to touch her.

“I’m sorry, Selina.”

“Are you?” She keeps her back to him.

“Yes. In the beginning, it wasn’t my intention to be gone for so long—”

“But you were!” She angrily whirls to face him, that lump in the back of her throat growing more and more insistent as she notices that his jaw has also tightened. “You were gone for ten years! I lo—I cared for you! We cared for each other. Why does the stupid city always have to come first?”

“It’s my responsibili—”

“Your responsibility, right. Right. And so when do you get to be your own person?”

“When the city is safe.”

“That’s never gonna happen. Not in Gotham.”

“I have to try.”

“Bruce…” She does step forward now, reaching out to cradle the side of his head. Her thumb gently strokes his cheek. “I thought we made a promise. I thought we were going to be something. Be an _us_.”

“We…we still…”

Selina sighs. It’s comforting to at least see the tears forming in his eyes too. “No. You don’t even believe it either.”

He reaches up and rests his hand over hers, holding it. “Maybe not today. But some day. Could you live with that?” At her silence, he lowers his head so his eyes are no longer meeting hers. Barely a whisper, he confesses, “I love you too, Selina.”

She can’t help her involuntary gasp at hearing those words from him. She always knew. But can her heart handle knowing that they might only ever be a ‘some day?’ That they might always be an ‘almost, but not quite?’

Bruce’s resolve grows and he lifts his head to meet her eyes again. “And I already promised I won’t leave Gotham. I’m not going to leave you. Never again.”

“But I’m no longer your top priority.”

Bruce shrugs—a move that looks a bit foolish in the Batsuit. “You were tonight.”

Selina laughs, a real one this time. “The _jewels_ were your top priority.” She wraps both her arms around his neck, relishing in this closeness even if their teasing banter can’t last. At least he’s smiling too. “But I’m noting that for future reference. You only want to see me if I’m stealing something.”

“That’s not—”

She cuts him off with a kiss. She doesn't care about the justice and fairness crap he’s gonna spew. All she wants is his lips fused with hers and his arms snaking around her back just the way she likes it. The way she feels safe. The way she’s missed for ten years.

Selina pulls him closer. God, she is so damn happy he’s reciprocating because it might’ve broken her heart if he hadn’t kissed her back. She deepens the kiss and tries to pour everything she wants to say into it. All the hurt and pain and abandonment and longing and missing and love that she holds for him. The stupid kid whose parents got killed in an alley she happened to be watching. The stupid kid who latched onto her and was so innocent in the ways of the world that she just had to teach him how it worked. The stupid kid who’s grown into a man and he will always be her best friend and deepest love.

He’s so special to her.

That doesn't mean she won’t mess with him.

She easily swipes the grapple hook from his belt and breaks their kiss to look at it. “So where’d you get all this tech anyway?”

“Selina.”  
  
“I’m not gonna steal it…yet,” she giggles as she turns it over in her hands. “It would be pretty nifty though.”

“Lucius Fox is a man of many talents.”

“Makes sense.” Bruce attempts to grab it but she holds it out of reach. “What’re you gonna to do to get it back?”

“Selina…”

“Ooo, that deep gravelly voice is _terrifying_ ,” she teases, walking backwards. “Try and catch me.”

She immediately turns to run. Bruce reaches to grab her but she’s already gone, sprinting down the flat of the rooftop. She hears his heavy footsteps behind her but she can’t imagine that armor does him any favors in regards to endurance. She takes the leap and easily clears the distance between the two rooftops and keeps running.

She gets several more feet before he glides up in front of her and causes her to stop.

“Having fun?”

“I’m just getting started.” She makes to run again, but he throws out the halt symbol and she yields. “You realize this is what you’re in for, right? Not every catch is gonna be as easy as grabbing Nygma and Penguin like you did the other night. Which they’re pissed about, by the way. So, you know, watch out I guess.”

“I’ll install a mechanism to thief-proof my belt for starters.”

She rolls her eyes before tossing the gadget to him. “Yeah, yeah, take your stupid toy back.”

“Thank you.”  
  
“Whatever.” It feels so much colder all of a sudden. At least they could pretend things were normal when they were running around like kids and he was still chasing after her.

Him stepping closer does help. But only slightly.

“None of this means I don’t care about you. _Please_ know that.”

“I guess.” She believes him, she does. But she doesn’t know if that belief is strong enough to ease the pain aching in her heart.

“May I kiss you again?”

A little giggle escapes her mouth because there’s her Bruce. Always so hesitant to take something they both want.

She yanks them back together and their bodies press close, not willing to surrender this intimacy after they’d lost it for so long.

Selena’s had her fair share of bedmates during that time. She’s sure Bruce has too.

But _this?_ Being together like this?

It feels better than any of those combined.

Maybe that’s what true love feels like.

She kisses him until her lips are swollen, and then kisses him some more.

Somehow they both know it’s not always going to be like this.

They’ll have their moments, of course, as the Batman tries to right all the wrongs of this city and she continues to scurry about in the night. They’ll cross paths surely. Some as friends and some as less than that.

Never foes though.

They could never be that.

She plants one last, firm kiss on his lips before taking a few steps back.

“See you around, Bruce.”

“Goodnight, Selina.”

They both leave the rooftop in different directions. The irony is not lost on either of them.

But they’ve dealt with worse before.

They can handle it.

**Author's Note:**

> Comments/Kudos are always welcomed!


End file.
